The Grand Lodge of Freemasons
The Grand Lodge of Freemasons (GLOF), also called the Lodge, is a large alliance on the Orange sphere. It was created on November 11, 2007 and opened its doors on December 8. The GLOF community was founded by one individual (Genghis) and then grew, without the aid of any formal agreement, into one of the fastest growing alliances today. Espousing truth, sincerity and genuine fellowship, the Lodge has been fortunate to attract many entertaining and respected personalities who share the similar goal of staying true to themselves, each other, and having a good time. The Masonic Code The Masonic Code is the alliance charter by which GLOF governs itself through five distinct Articles. Alliance history Origins The Grand Lodge of Freemasons was created out of a desire to enjoy an alliance without the endless cycles of betrayal, harassment, cliques and entitlement that permeate within many online gaming communities. In the Fall of 2007, CyberNations was at a crossroads; long-time rivals in the The Legion and the New Pacific Order (NPO) bitterly clashed and the latter enlisted the aid of multiple alliances to squash the military of its opponent. Following this defeat, the Legion Cabinet opted to disband its alliance without the consent of its membership; thus creating the Legion Disbandment Crisis. In response, select Legionnaires ignored the announcement and approached the NPO for assistance; giving government authority over the Legion to an Imperial Viceroy. After the war, NPO had effectively opted to stabilize its ancient foe rather than annihilate it. Witnessing these events, a Legionnaire by the name of Genghis decided that he wanted change; immediately following the announcement of the disbandment, he created the original Lodge forum on November 11, 2007. After operating under house-arrest during the occupation and attempting to reconcile disagreements with his compatriots, Genghis decided to delete his two year-old nation and start over. Following a month of forum development which culminated in the deletion of his nation, Genghis created New Tauron a day later and became the first to adopt the "Grand Lodge of Freemasons" as his alliance affiliation; subsequently, he began recruiting and publicly opened the alliance. The Foundation Genghis' recruitment appeals were quickly answered by individuals who had also faced similar unfortunate circumstances in their own communities; together, they created the First Council which governed the Lodge in the interim until a solid membership base could be relied upon to hold responsible Conventions. Suffice it to say, the earliest members had a large task before them; it was unheard of in CyberNations to create a community without the financial assistance and security provided by a protectorate agreement from a larger alliance. The Lodge, however, did not have this luxury and the majority of its initial members were experienced but actually had brand new or very young nations. To their fine credit, they began to establish the typical administrative processes that are required by every alliance but also sought to ensure that expansion would not endanger the principals of their small community; first, members such as ex Legion members Phil Collins, Lord Xnut, Lord Trenchard and new nations such as quatzecoatl and AlexG314 opted to help innocent victims who had been attacked by other nations to obtain peace and invited them into the Lodge afterward. Secondly, Genghis' interim charter was rewritten to give it a Freemason flavor and codify the alliance's principles. Combined, these two initiatives became the first two steps in determining the culmination of the Lodge into what it is today. Heeding the lessons learned from the political problems of their former alliances, the members of the First Council also agreed to direct foreign relations toward such alliances that had always remained faithful to their treaties and to which it could foster nothing but sincere and admirable friendship; this was the culminated case when diplomatic contact was made with the fine men and women of Nueva Vida (NV) and Knights of the Iron Cross (KIX). The Freemasons also decided to diplomatically conduct themselves under the authority of two important directives: (1.) The establishment of any foreign agreement had to be made with only the most proven and genuine friend, and (2.) Foreign agreements were only to be signed with regard to matters of economic and military significance. Thus began the tradition of excelled Masonic diplomacy and the refusal of the Lodge to formally sign any agreement which did not have meaningful consequence. As a micro-alliance though, the Lodge was very vulnerable to attack; most of these were conducted by aggressive individuals and groups of nations that are called "tech raiders." As a result of their desire to easily acquire land and technology from the small Masonic nations, the raiders discovered that their hostilities effectively united the Lodge under the banner of the Order of the Red Cross; by lighting the Grand Hailing Sign of Distress, every Freemason was assured that his or her brothers and sisters would militarily and economically respond to his or her aid. Having decisively defeated many of these adversaries, the earliest Masons also opted to display mercy in spite of their victories; the concept of perma-ZI (the act of effectively prohibiting a player from enjoy CyberNations by constantly declaring war on him/her even though he/she has no infrastructure) was felt to be dishonorable and reasonable reparations were expected instead. By showing respect to its adversaries, the Lodge quickly discovered that its opponents could easily be influenced to reciprocate it. As the attacks grew in magnitude, however, the First Council agreed to a joint military campaign with its equally vulnerable friends in KIX; after a brief but successful sojourn against a particularly stubborn group of tech raiders, this agreement was null and voided after the Knights of the Iron Cross disbanded. Laying the first bricks In the precarious position of being one of the few alliances ever to be born and grown completely independent, the Lodge opted to remove itself from the divisive world of CyberNation politics and conducted its internal and external affairs with its own self-interest; to be succise, the Freemasons treated everybody equally and were more concerned with the prosperity of their own community, along with that of their friend's, than the left-wing, right-wing, lulz or serious business sides of the Cyberverse. The first informal communication that the Lodge had with a sanctioned alliance had a tremendous impact on this aforementioned philosophy; after experiencing a rogue, the Freemasons noticed that the individual had opted to ghost (the act of pretending to be a member of an alliance by illegally using its alliance affiliation) the NPO. Although intimidated by their size and reoccurring propaganda, the First Council decided to set aside the normal fears of every micro-alliance and approached Pacifica to inform them. In response, a Pacifican diplomat named Exobyte (who later left to become a valuable Freemason and then decided to return to his roots in the NPO) showed up at the Foreign Chancellery in an unofficial capacity. The friendship that developed between the Lodge and this individual showed the Freemasons that sincerity trumps politics in every way; in accordance with its aforementioned foreign directives, the Masons opted to continue to uphold the philosophy that a true friend is a friend no matter which sphere, political philosophy, tradition or political spectrum of the Cyberverse he or she subscribes to. As a community, the Lodge also benefited greatly from its friendship with raasaa, the NV Head of State, and the entirety of Nueva Vida. With their assistance, the Freemasons were able to procure a tremendous reputation for reliable technology sales and distribution; thus enhancing the economy, security and infrastructure of the entire alliance and attracting new members. From the noble roots of establishing an alliance that could withstand corruption, foster genuine friendship, adhere to its principles and sow mutual-respect with other communities, the Grand Lodge of Freemasons was born successfully independent as a defensively-oriented alliance with individuals of the highest integrity; they had a hand-shake and everything. Installing the Pillars As a result of their hard work, the Freemasons were able to formally announce their existence on January 20, 2008 with the edict of their First Grand Installation. Subsequently, with the spike in recruitment that resulted from this announcement and through the hard-work of people such as Phil Collins, AlexG314, Alaric, Quatzalcoatl, ZayneHumphrey, Arod Johns, Blamage, Lord_Xnut, and various others, the Lodge became strong enough and respected enough to enter into a formal agreement with its close friends in Nueva Vida; coined the Assistance, Zeal, Trade, Economic & Combat Treaty (AZTEC treaty), it was ratified on March 2 and was eventually expanded to include the Patriotic Union of Kalashnikov Enthusiasts (PUKE). With its independent mindset at heart, the members of AZTEC each concurred that the bloc would comprise only the most sincere friends who would cooperate militarily and economically to ensure collective security and prosperity. Shortly following this achievement, the Freemasons surpassed the difficult milestone of acquiring five-hundred thousand nation strength and announced it to the Cyberverse on April 7 through the Second Grand Installation. After consolidating the activity of its membership and recognizing the need for a concept of Degrees, the Lodge surpassed one million nation strength on July 9 before issuing the Third Grand Installation and shifting its focus toward domestic affairs. Patching the Cement Culminating in the latest and possibly final Masonic Code revision on January 12, 2009, Freemasons collectively illustrated their opinions and concerns that enabled to repen the charter again; the following is a concise background to the various philosophies that influenced the document. Throughout the first year of its history, the Grand Lodge of Freemasons was faced with an intricate and complex charter issue that transfixed the attention of many contributing and devoted members; how best could a political apparatus be organized to preserve the founding principles yet encourage the libertarian participation of new contributors? As a result, numerous Conventions were held to determine what direction to take to address this issue. Over time, subsequent revisions to the Masonic Code tested various hypotheses involving authoritarian and representative methods of governance; an evolution of sorts toward the grand charter that the Lodge operates with today. It was accepted that the preservation of the founding principles would best be served by emphasizing the senior role of contributing members in directing the policy of Lodge affairs; new members, of course, would be afforded every universal opportunity to show their ability to contribute and receive appointments to positions of subsequent greater responsibility. In this manner, three branches of administration were manifested into existence in the Grand Lodge of Freemasons; the Lodge Council, the Lodge Offices and the Registrar. The Lodge Council became the executive director of policy in the Lodge and was continually comprised of senior members who were primarily elected or appointed from amongst the ranks of the greatest contributing Fellow Craft and Master Masons. Coincidentally, this pattern was eventually codified and adopted into the articulate letter of later Masonic Code revisions. The Lodge Offices were emblematic of the need to provide every Freemason with the opportunity to contribute if he or she decided to do so; they were often coincidentally appointed by the Lodge Council from deserving members of the Fellow Craft and supported the various administrative duties of the Lodge. The significance of this enterprise was that it afforded every Freemason who became a Lodge Officer with the prerequisite experience that was needed to become a member of the Lodge Council. The position of Registrar was often the principle point of debate and discussion within the Lodge as it represented the judicial aspect of its political apparatus; in various incarnations, it was generally accepted that the Registrar shall remain elected from amongst contributing members and remain separate from the executive government and its plethora of administrative stems. To this aim, the franchise (the right to vote) was eventually limited to members who had obtained the Degree of Fellow Craft; not content to promote the non-exercise of such an important and effective right, the franchise to participate in Conventions was subsequently limited to only contributing members as represented by anyone who showed initiative to earn the Degree of Fellow Craft and/or the Degree of Master Mason. The meritocratic and democratic representation of the membership remained effectively preserved through the ability of any enfranchised Freemason to exercise a Vote of No Confidence in a member of the Lodge Council, a Lodge Officer and/or a Registrar and the ability for any Freemason to make an appeal against any disciplinary decision by the government to the Registrar. In this manner, a meritocratic democracy was developed that encouraged initiative and promoted equal representation; the Grand Lodge of Freemasons has always remained fortunate that its political apparatus, in its various incarnations through the multitude of required revisions to the Masonic Code, has resolutely withstood the in-fighting and corruption that often takes hold in other alliances as a result of irresponsibly permitting questionable rights to the franchise. The evolution of the Masonic Code from its conception as an interim document to its present is located in the Scottish Rite Library along with the debates and discussions which have been adequately preserved. The War of Principle Popularly known as the BLEU-Continuum Conflict or the War of the First Coalition, the War of Principle became the first open engagement in which the Grand Lodge of Freemasons participated when various alliances declared the initiation of formal hostilities against its ally for various reasons on August 11, 2008; the New Polar Order (NpO). Citing The Penguin Lodge Treaty and Article V of AZTEC, the Grand Lodge of Freemasons justifiably entered the conflict as a direct result of the open hostilities that had been initiated against its friends in Nueva Vida (a member of BLEU at the time) and the New Polar Order. In spite of insurmountable odds and the expected material destruction that the catalyst of this endeavor promised, the Grand Lodge of Freemasons sought to enter this conflict on the basis of friendship rather than risk sacrificing its honor or the spirit with which those documents were signed. Issuing the fourth Grand Installation on August 13, the Grand Lodge of Freemasons served a formal declaration of war against its opponents in TORN and Poison Clan who had rallied to the cause of the coalition. Much criticism and many accolades were afforded to the Lodge as a result of its decision; chiefly amongst its opponents, the argument that the commencement of hostilities against TORN, an Orange sphere alliance, by the Grand Lodge of Freemasons, another predominantly Orange sphere alliance, tremendously upset the tradition by which the initiation of a conflict by an Orange sphere alliance against another Orange sphere alliance was popularly unacceptable because it was rare. To offset such criticism, the Freemasons countered that never in its entire history had the Lodge considered itself to be an official Orange sphere alliance in spite of efforts to possibly make an official move there if community circumstances provided for such an endeavor. The Great Color Debate in the Scottish Rite Library more than successfully illustrates the history of Lodge spherical affiliation; at its outset, the Freemasons were initially a Blue alliance but predominately participated in Orange due to its stability. Although the Grand Lodge of Freemasons had made numerous attempts to become involved in the Orange community, including the dispatch of many diplomats to the OUT, such endeavors had remained fruitless as contact became fairly limited and unintentional rebukes of these diplomatic efforts had led to a predominant feeling of being excluded by Orange alliances. Coincidentally, the Lodge had become very close to its friends on the Blue sphere; specifically benefiting from its enhanced relations with Nueva Vida, the New Polar Order and BLEU. As such, a sharp response by OUT alliances was to be expected due to the Lodge being predominantly Orange but retaining closer and more successful ties with Orange opponents on Blue; the mutual failure of Orange-Lodge relations had a serious impact on the Freemason community. Both TORN and Poison Clan near single-handily defeated the Lodge with the assistance of many alliances; facing expected 11-1 odds and suffering seventy-seven of its ninety nations in anarchy or nuclear devastation, the Grand Lodge of Freemasons reached more than lenient peace terms after having been threatened with Orange Prohibition and issued its fifth Grand Installation; formally surrendering on August 19 and canceling or suspending every foreign agreement. As a result of the War of Principle, OUT announced that it would deliberately show the Lodge the tremendous unity and benefit of Orange after many of its members noted the tremendous respect, maturity and professionalism that Freemasons had exhibited on the battlefield. Quickly fulfilling the articles of its surrender terms during which it was actively involved and accepted into the Orange community, the Lodge was successfully released from its terms on September 26. Proud of the courage and resilience that they had shown by defending their friends and entering an unwinnable conflict; the War of Principle is seen as a success as it brought the Lodge officially closer to Orange through the fulfillment of its surrender terms, defense of its principles, coincidental communication between Freemasons and Orange nations and the generous protection that its former adversaries in TORN gave to the Grand Lodge of Freemasons during the month-long period of reconstruction. War history The War of the Coalition - 11 August - 11 September 2008 ;War of the Coalition *Often referred to as Great War V. *Nueva Vida enter the war as part of the BLEU bloc. *Poison Clan declares on our ally, NV. *GLoF attacks PC and TORN in retaliation. *TORN and PC defeat GLOF. Outcomes: The Orange sphere knows we exist. TORN sponsor GLOF's admission to OUT. The KARMA War - 20 April - 19 July 2009 ;Karma War *Alternatively known as Great War VI. *TORN and New Pacific Order attack Ordo Verde - who is allied to Nueva Vida (Our Ally) *MCXA attacks Viridian Entente, an ally of NV. *GLOF (as part of AZTEC bloc) declares war on MCXA in retaliation. *GLOF 'wins'. The Bipolar War - 20 January - 4 April 2010 ;Bipolar War *Alternatively known as the NpO - \m/ war. *NpO uses morality as a CB to attack \m/ and their brand of raiding. *FOK declares on NpO (our ally). *GLOF (as part of AZTEC bloc) declares war on FOK in retaliation. *Three days later, The International & The Resistance attack GLoF in support of FOK. *INT and tR allowed some dubious attacks on GLoF after peace was declared, one day later... The GLOF-57th War - 12–16 February 2010 ;GLOF-57th War *GM Penedono received credible evidence that efforts on the part of the 57th were being made to tamper with Lodge members in order to have them expelled and ZI'd to settle grudges. Faked screencaps to frame a Lodge member as a spy were passed to GLoF government, which implicated the highest levels of the 57th's government, based on the caps being from secure forum areas. *GLOF declares on 57th and cancels treaty. *This was a short and low-intensity affair. *GLOF attacked for less than a week, in an effort to force Veneke to step down as leader of the 57th, and save its blameless members from his leadership. *This effort failed, and GLoF vacated the field, leaving the 57th to live with itself and implode on its own. The PB-NpO War - 17 January - 7 February 2011 ;PB-NpO War *Started as a Viridian Entente versus New Polar Order war on the basis of 'questionable' spying. *STA DoW's PC in defense of NpO. *NV DoW's wF in defense of STA. *Sparta declares war on NV with no CB. *AZTEC declares war on Sparta in retaliation. *Darkfall and Alpha Omega declare war on GLOF in support of Sparta. *In early peace talks, NV maneuvered to protect NoR not necessarily AZTEC. *NV's war against wF (an ally of VE) was weak at best! TOP/IRON vs. NpO War - 25 November 2011 - 31 January 2012 ;TOP/IRON-NpO War *TOP & IRON declared on NpO seeking retribution for leaving them on the battlefield during the BiPolar War. *After IRON hit NpO, STA hit IRON in their defense. *GLoF along with Colossus and WAPA then DoW'd STA. *GLOF battered STA down from 2.3M to ~ 0.7M NS *STA surrendered Equilibrium War - 18 January — 27 March 2013 ;Equilibrium War - Equilibrium (war coalition) vs Competence *Started when Ai, IRON, NPO, TIO, NATO declared war on Umbrella *AZTEC (GLOF, AB, DT) declared war on TOP alongside Sengoku, TORN, NX, Ag, TPF, ML *TOOTR, TSO, Alchemy declare war on GLOF and AB *Competence surrender to Equilibrium Government history Below is the Lodge Council and Lodge Officer Catalog: International relations bloc *AZTEC ** GLOF ** Aurora Borealis ** The Dark Templar ** Sengoku s * Independent Republic of Orange Nations ( ) * - Umbrella ( ) Blocs See also Category:Alliances